Learning to Tow Banners for Fun, Profit and Improved Stick and Rudder Skills

I was hired by Chicago Aerial Advertising when I was in my mid-20s to learn how to safely drag a huge airborne advertising display around Chicagoland with a tiny 150-hp Citabria as the tow airplane

It turned out to be not only the adventure of my flying career, but also some of the most valuable stick and rudder training of my entire flying career. Over the course of two and a half years, I earned some incredible money for the time and also learned the intricacies of flying an airplane that regularly hung on the edge of a stall most of the time it was airborne. That meant learning to feel what an airplane was doing by using just my sense of touch, hearing and sight. There was no automation involved.

This experience made me a better pilot later in life when the airplanes were much larger nearly fully automated jets. While the job was a little scary at times, nothing ever taught me to be the master of an airplane that way this one did.